Winches and Backing Plates

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thinwater
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Winches and Backing Plates

Post by thinwater »

Some years ago I loosened the port primary (heard core crushing) on a windy day. Dropping the ceiling showed that it was not mounted in solid glass, no backing plate, and not even fender washers. I added a 7" dia FRP backing plate and have had no further trouble.

A week ago I heard crunching under the starboard secondary, saw the base was lifting, and again dropped the ceiling. Though this winch was mounted in solid glass, the fender washers were lame (very thin and distorted from the load) and no backing plates. The glass is solid in this area, but obviously not solid enough. I added plates to both secondaries.

Has anyone else loosened winches, or am I the only one that sheets that hard?

What was the factory mounting? All of the winches showed evidence of relocation (extra holes). I have Lewmar 40s as primaries and Harken 42s as secondaries, and I wonder if perhaps they were swapped by a PO. Curiously, the Harkens are the same model, but different years (a few parts are not interchangable).

I serviced the winches (I do every few years). They seem fine.
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